Graham Criticizes Ben Carson on Gay Remarks: Christians Have to Show a ‘Loving Heart’

Monday on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting,” with co-hosts Hillary Chabot and Jaclyn Cashman, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R- SC) said he is for “traditional marriage without animosity” and if the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage this summer, “It will be time for us to move forward as a society.”

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When asked about Dr. Ben Carson’s past comments comparing homosexuality with pedophilia and bestiality, Graham said, “Can you be for traditional marriage? Yes,” but he added, “Things are a-changing, so at the end of the day, being for traditional marriage without animosity is where I stand.”

“If the Supreme Court rules sometime this year that same sex marriage bans are unconstitutional, then that will be a defining moment in that debate and it will be time for us to move forward as a society,” Graham said.

When asked if he would support an constitutional amendment on marriage Graham said, “I just don’t see how you get a constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman ratified by three fourths of the States given the lay of the land today.”

He added, “At the end of the day, this whole social structure that is changing is part of a democracy.”

When pressed again about specifically Carson’s remarks Graham said, “I think that is not helpful. That is not the way the Republican party should go. That is not the way you operate in the political arena. You can be for traditional marriage. You can be an evangelical Christian. But most people that I know in the community have a loving heart and at the end of the day we want to showcase as Christian conservatives a loving heart.”

He concluded, “Ben Carson I really don’t know him. He seems like an incredibly talented and gifted fella. I don’t know what he said or why he said it but the quote you read to me, that is not who I am that is not what I believe, that is not why I’m running for president.”